1.5: COMPLEX NUMBERS ABUJIYA, M.R.

1.5: COMPLEX NUMBERS

Section Outline:
▪ Introduction to Complex Numbers ▪ Operations on Complex Numbers
▪ Powers of the Imaginary Number ▪ Complex Solutions of Quadratic Equations

I. Introduction to Complex Numbers

Basic Concepts
We saw in section 1.4 that if the discriminant of a quadratic equation is negative, then the equation
has no real solution. For example,
x2  3  0  x2   3  x   3

but since  3 is NOT a real number, an expanded number system called the complex number
system was introduced. Define the new number as
i 1 or i2   1

so that for and for any real number a  0 , we simplify the square root of negative numbers as
follows:
a  i a

where the number i is called an imaginary number.

Real Imaginary
part part
Definition
A complex number is an expression of the form a  b i where a and b real numbers and

i 1. For example,

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Example 1: Answer True or False

(a) i is a number (b) i is a real number (c) every real number is a complex number

Example 2: Find the real and imaginary parts of each complex number

1 6  24
(a) 2  49 (b)   27 (c)  3   12 (d)
3 2

II. Operations on Complex Numbers

Addition and Subtraction of Complex Numbers

If a  b i and c  d i are complex numbers, then

▪ Addition:  a  bi    c  d i    a  c   b  d  i

▪ Subtraction:  a  bi    c  d i    a  c   b  d  i

Example 3: Simplify each expression

(a) 4  7 i  1  6 i  (b) i  2   2  6 i  (c) 3i   2  3 i    2  5 i 

Multiplication of Complex Numbers

If a  b i and c  d i are complex numbers, then

 a  bi  c  d i    ac  bd    ad  bc  i

Example 4: Perform the indicated operation

(a)  3  2 i  2  3 i  (b)  2  3i 
2
(c) 2  
3 4  5 3 

Division of Complex Numbers

Division of complex numbers is like rationalizing the denominator of a radical expression discussed
in section P.4. For a complex number z  a  bi , we define its conjugate to be z  a  bi . For
example,

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1.5: COMPLEX NUMBERS ABUJIYA, M.R.

3  4i  3  4i and 2  7i  2  7i .

Note that zz   a  bi  a  bi   a 2  b2  real number .

Example 5: Given the complex number z  3  2i , evaluate the expression 3z  z 2 .

✓ How to find the quotient of two complex numbers

(a) Find the conjugate of denominator

Example 6: Write each quotient in standard form

2  3i 4  3i 2 8 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d) 
4i 4  3i 1 2 1 i 1i

III. Powers of the Imaginary Number (i)

▪ i1  i

▪ i2  1

▪ i 3  i 2  i1   1 i  i

▪ i4  i2  i2   1 1  1

✓ How to find i n : (a) divide n by 4 and find the remainder r

(b) use the exponent rule: i n  i r

Example 7: Evaluate each power and write the result in standard form

1
 2i  i 51
5
(a) (b) i1002 (c) i1438  i 2017 (d) (e)
i 25

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IV. Complex Solutions of Quadratic Equations

We saw earlier in section 1.4 that if the discriminant b2  4ac of a quadratic equation
ax 2  bx  c  0 is negative, then the equation has no real solution. However, this equation will
always have a solution in complex number system.

Example 8: Solve each of the following equations

3 1
(a) x2  4 x  5  0 (b) x 3 0 (c) x2  x 1  0
x 2

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